Introduction

During
1907 the United States Mint struck what many consider to be the most beautiful
coin design ever produced by this nation. Inspired by a unique collaboration
between the country’s most admired political leader, President Theodore
Roosevelt, and its internationally honored sculptor, Augustus Saint-Gaudens,
the new $20 gold coin design featured renewed vitality and artistic vigor.

Before the new design could be issued for
general circulation, the mint, President and artist experimented with several
versions of the composition. Among these, the initial version was known as the
“Extremely High Relief” (EHR) double eagle. Collector interest in these special
coins has been high since they became known shortly after they were struck. As
early as 1908, a single specimen was valued at $1,000; today it will take more
than a thousand times that amount to buy one. Except possibly for the 1804
silver dollar, and 1913 Liberty nickel, the
Saint-Gaudens’ EHR gold double eagle may be America’s best known rare coin.

Through
much of its existence, the EHR $20 has been a coin of mystery. No one could say
how many were made, or when, or how they escaped the Philadelphia Mint, or who
first owned them. While this added to the myth and lore of the coin – and may
have enhanced it’s appeal at auction – little was done to understand how these
magnificent pieces came into existence.

The
big “break” in our understanding of the Saint-Gaudens EHR double eagles
occurred in 1992 when numismatist David Tripp, working for Sotheby’s,
discovered that at least two of the EHR specimens had different lettering on
their edges than the other known pieces as shown below.

Tripp was also able to confirm that
the discovery pieces had been made with the same edge collar dies as a 1906 pattern
double eagle created by Charles Barber and George Morgan. Many catalog writers
picked up the discovery but little new information was uncovered. It was more
than a decade until the next “break” occurred. Beginning in 2003, the author located
official documents and private letters mentioning the EHR experimental coins
along with other pieces from the 1907 experiments. By combining this new information
with Tripp’s discoveries and previously known documents, a much fuller and
richer understanding of how the EHR $20 were created has emerged.

There
is certainly more to learn about these rare and beautiful coins, but for now,
this is all we have.

The President Approves

The
story begins on December 15, 1906. Saint-Gaudens’ completed models for the double
eagle arrived at the ExecutiveMansion. President Roosevelt
thought they were “simply immense” and ordered Mint Director George Roberts to
have them reduced and coins struck “just as they are.” The models went to the
Philadelphia Mint where engraver Charles Barber had been waiting for them since
September. The Mint had finally bought a modern Janvier reducing rathe in
November 1906 after more than two years’ delay. The Janvier machine could make
reductions directly to a coin-sized hub from large plaster models including
Saint-Gaudens’ 13-inch double eagle models – something the Mint’s old equipment
could not do. The Philadelphia Mint had no difficulty with the relief of the
design: they had been making high relief medals for 75 years. Only the diameter
of the models and the degree of reduction were potential problems.

Engraver
Barber recognized that he did not fully understand how to operate the complicated
new Janvier machine, so he had Henri Weil, who had trained with the Janvier et Duval firm in Paris, come to
the Mint for a week to help cut the reductions and hubs from Saint-Gaudens’
models. This was accomplished without problem and by February 7, 1907 Barber
was ready to strike samples. Between February 7 and 14, Barber produced three
complete coins using the new obverse and reverse dies, and the edge collar die
from his 1906 pattern coin. (He also made fifteen pieces using the same design
but struck on planchets the diameter of the $10 gold coin.) Each coin required
seven blows of 150 tons on the medal press – six to impart the face designs and
a seventh to impress the edge lettering E
Pluribus Unum. With each piece taking multiple blows, several incomplete
pieces were always awaiting annealing before the next strike. As Barber gave
the sixth strike to one of the partial coins, the reverse die cracked. This
ended initial experimental production of Saint-Gaudens’ EHR coins with only
three complete specimens struck, plus several incomplete pieces and the plain
edge example showing the die crack.

Secret Business

The
Annual Assay Commission was in session during this time and Director Roberts
was in Philadelphia
to attend the meetings. A special member of the Commission was George F. Kunz,
Vice-President of Tiffany’s Inc. and Chairman of the American Numismatic and
Antiquarian Society’s New Coin Design Committee. He was also the county’s
foremost expert on minerals and gems and an acquaintance of President
Roosevelt. Tiffany’s had provided consultative services to the Mint regarding
the Saint-Gaudens’ coin ideas and director Roberts wanted Kunz to see the new
coin. Soon after the first pieces were struck Roberts, Kunz, possibly others on
the Commission, and Henry Hering, Saint-Gaudens’ assistant, got to examine the
EHR double eagles. Everyone was sworn to secrecy although that may have been
less than completely effective. The experimental pieces were more medal than
coin, and clearly not practical from a coinage standpoint. Still, they were
uncommonly beautiful medal-coins and Roberts made a point of taking two
specimens back to Washington.
One he kept for himself, the other he gave to Robert Preston, who had been his
predecessor as director.

A
few days later, Roberts contacted Barber ordering that two specimens be placed
in the Philadelphia Mint Collection of coins. Barber replied that the dies were
broken, so in early March Roberts gave permission to prepare a new reverse die
and strike more EHR coins. This was done and sometime between March and July,
Barber apparently made 12 or more EHR specimens. All of these had both a new
reverse die and a new edge collar with the motto in large Roman-style (serif)
letters. Two examples went into the Mint Collection, Barber kept as many as six
pieces from this second group for his own collection, possibly along with the
remaining complete and plain edge pieces from the first group. (Eight EHR specimens
are listed in Barber’s 1916 collection inventory.)

During
July through November, little happened with the EHR experimental pieces except
for the President declaring that “coins struck from the high relief experimental
dies” could be distributed to collectors who requested them. The mint was busy
with normal coin production, and struggling to produce the new Saint-Gaudens
$10 and $20 coins in a form acceptable to commerce. In early December, the new
Mint Director, Frank Leach, was shown the EHR owned by Preston.
Leach was taken by the appearance of the coin and wrote to Barber asking him to
make three more examples: one for “the Saint-Gaudens people” (he meant the
artist’s widow, Augusta),
one for Treasury Secretary Cortelyou and one for himself. As an after thought,
he also asked for a fourth piece for the President “if he does not already have
one.” Barber took the instructions literally, and made three more EHR coins on
December 31, 1907. Leach provided copies to the other officials and himself, leaving
Augusta without
a sample of her late husband’s work.

Thus,
the elusive and beautiful EHR gold double eagles were struck in three groups:

This
totals 18 complete EHR specimens and one plain edge example, or 19 pieces,
which is in good agreement with the number presently accounted for. All Group 1
pieces were made using the 1906 Barber/Morgan pattern double eagle collar and
have a sans serif type face which is
unevenly cut into the die. All of the Group 2 pieces have serif-type edge lettering which is upside down when the coin is
sitting obverse-up. The final Group 3 coins are the same as Group 2 except the
edge lettering reads right-side-up due to the collar die being placed incorrectly,
or the die position reversed in the press.

Original Owners

What
about Augusta’s
coin? In June 1908 she was finally sold one of the examples from the Mint
Collection for face value plus postage. Her husband had seen the EHR and other
experimental coins, but never owned one. Original owners of the extremely high
relief $20 experimental coins were:

·George E. Roberts - 1

·Robert Preston – 1

·U.S.
Mint Collection – 2

·Charles E. Barber - 8

·Theodore Roosevelt – 2

·George B. Cortelyou – 1

·Frank A. Leach – 1

·Augusta Saint-Gaudens – 1 (from Mint Collection)

Total Pieces
Accounted For:16

Total Pieces
Unaccounted For:3 (approx.)

There
is no indication that the Mint Bureau sold any of the 1907 coins for more than
their face value in gold plus a few cents for postage. The President’s order
allowed anyone who wanted them, including employees, to purchase experimental
pieces. What the employees or coin collectors did with them later was a private
matter.

Beyond
the first owners, we know almost nothing about who next acquired any of the
coins. The pedigree of most specimens is confused and offers little hope of
untangling which coin originated with which government official. One
Smithsonian coin came from the U.S. Mint collection when it was transferred in
1923. One of Theodore Roosevelt’s coins may have remained in his family until
donated to the Smithsonian in 1962. Barber may have sold off some of his pieces
within a year or two of their striking, although eight remained in his
collection inventory as of 1916. It is possible that the old “Captain North”
set of Saint-Gaudens gold originated with Barber and was placed in a custom
case by it’s new owner in 1917 or later. In later years George Kunz was
involved in brokering an occasional transaction including one instance in 1915
where the seller, writing on Mint stationary, wanted $800 for an example. Even
with tremendous modern interest in the Saint-Gaudens experimental coins, few of
the specimens have been carefully examined to determine their edge
characteristics, and research must depend on old catalog notations.

Like
many of America’s
most attractive coins – both patterns and adopted designs – the original hubs
for Saint-Gaudens’ coins were destroyed May 24-25, 1910 on orders from Mint Director
A. Piatt Andrew.